Designer for a Day

Melton secondary student Milly Wall recently put her passion for design to good use when she became part of Dacland’s design team for a day. The ‘Designer for a Day’ initiative is part of Dacland’s partnership with the ‘Western Bulldogs Whitten Project,’ a leadership program for young people in Melbourne’s west.

Unlike many developers, Dacland has its own in-house design team to lead our innovative approach to urban design, to bring people together, create safer streets and encourage people to engage and socialise with their neighbours.

A Year 10 student at Melton Secondary College, Milly is interested in all types of design and used the opportunity to try urban and landscape design for the day. The talented artist draws on her Aboriginal heritage for inspiration in her paintings and showed a talent for design concepts at a really young age. “When I was nine I designed a village for single parents and their kids including shops, a taxi service, a school and affordable flats for people to live in. At the time, my mother was on her own and it made me think about ways to help people.”

As a child Milly also designed a concept for an aged care facility which featured a large aviary and gardening space for the residents. The concept was based on Milly’s experience of her great Aunt’s garden, one of her favourite places.

Milly’s work for Dacland included a landscape design meeting, establishing dimensions for the footprint of a new project and gaining an understanding of how construction is done over a number of stages. So what does Milly think of Dacland’s design approach? “I think it has real potential to help people,” she said.